‘He wants it’: Have the Dodgers Found a Late-Inning Answer in Roki Sasaki?

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Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

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LOS ANGELES – Dave Roberts’ bullpen trust tree had been uprooted, set aflame and turned into dust. His offense overwhelmed, his starting pitching overpowered, but the late innings offered no obvious solutions for the Dodgers’ manager, even against an inferior Reds opponent in the wild-card series. 

Then up from the ashes rose a phoenix. 

Enter rookie Roki Sasaki and his triple-digit heat to the bullpen fray. 

“Wow,” Max Muncy said after Sasaki’s dominant ninth inning finished off a sweep Wednesday night. “That’s really all you can say, is ‘wow.’ That’s what we need right there.” 

For most of Wednesday night, the blueprint looked the same as the evening prior. The Dodgers’ offense followed a 10-run onslaught in Game 1 with an eight-run fusillade in Game 2. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed Blake Snell’s seven-inning, nine-strikeout, two-run gem in Game 1 with a similar line, striking out nine and allowing two unearned runs in 6.2 innings. 

Yamamoto escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth inning and continued into the seventh, throwing a career-high 113 pitches before departing to an ovation. Roberts pushed him, as he’ll have to do with all his starters this October, considering the state of their relievers. 

On both nights, the Dodgers barely overcame their most glaring weakness, a bullpen that threatens to implode their inexorable machine as they now get ready for a more formidable foe in Philadelphia in the next round. 

They needed three relievers to get through a three-run, 59-pitch eighth inning in Tuesday’s 10-5 win. Wednesday’s eighth inning, a two-run, 41-pitch fiasco in an 8-4 win, was similarly ominous and disconcerting. 

In an unfamiliar role, the game appeared to speed up on converted starter Emmet Sheehan, who allowed a single, a walk, another single, a wild pitch, another walk and a sacrifice fly when he nearly hit Will Benson with a 1-2 pitch, prompting Roberts to emerge from the dugout and take the ball. In the middle of the at-bat, Roberts went to southpaw Alex Vesia, his most-trusted arm in a bullpen that offers few places to turn. 

“Honestly with how the playoffs come around, there’s no surprises,” Vesia said. “Doc [Roberts] made a call. He was trusting his gut.”

Reds manager Terry Francona removed Benson and replaced him with right-hander Miguel Andujar to get the platoon matchup. One pitch later, Vesia finished off the strikeout. After allowing a walk to load the bases, Vesia then got TJ Friedl looking to extinguish the threat and keep the Dodgers’ lead at four. 

“Doc’s a legend, man,” Vesia said, “and that’s the s— that legends do right there.”

Too often, though, it has required a Houdini act for the Dodgers to persevere. 

The bullpen did just enough to escape a Reds team with the worst OPS among all National League club, but that same effort against a Phillies team that won both series between the clubs earlier this year invites disaster. 

That’s what made Sasaki’s dazzling ninth-inning postseason debut so intriguing. 

For most of his first year stateside, it seemed like a lost season for this winter’s greatest prize. The most coveted international free agent had struggled to maintain the velocity that piqued the interest of every Major League team, hampered by a shoulder issue and unstable mechanics. The 23-year-old starter struggled to miss bats in his first taste of the majors and spent most of the year on the injured list. 

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman couldn’t have imagined that version of Sasaki would eventually be closing out a playoff series. But last month at Triple-A, a different version of the tantalizing right-hander appeared. 

“Him taking the time to get healthy and also get his delivery in sync, it took him a few minor league outings, but we saw it go back to the 2023 version of Roki,” Friedman said. 

The velocity ticked back up. The Dodgers shifted Sasaki to a relief role, envisioning someone who might be able to assist them for the stretch run. He made two scoreless relief appearances in Oklahoma City, then two more back with the big-league club before season’s end. 

Now, the new-and-improved version of Sasaki might be the late-inning answer the Dodgers have sorely lacked. Maybe, he can end the carousel of pain. 

“I trust him,” Roberts said. “And he’s going to be pitching in leverage. So the more you pitch guys and play guys, you learn more.” 

Sasaki needed only 11 pitches to send the Dodgers to the National League Division Series. He made quick work of the Reds, combining a four-seam fastball that got up to 101.4 mph with a darting splitter that finished off two strikeouts. 

In the process, he captured the admiration and belief of his awestruck teammates. 

“It feels like he wants it,” said Miguel Rojas. “He wants to be out there. He wants to be the closer, and he wants to finish games.” 

“That guy is gross,” said Tanner Scott. 

“We believe in him,” added Vesia.

It’s an auspicious development as the Dodgers move forward. Their lineup is rolling, plating 18 runs over two games in the wild-card series sweep. Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez each homered twice in Game 1. Mookie Betts picked up where he left off at the end of the year, finishing with six hits in the series and tying a Los Angeles playoff record with three doubles in Game 2. Their starting pitching will rival any they’ll see as long as their repeat bid continues. They’ve won 17 of their last 22 games. 

Now, the real test awaits. 

The Dodgers know who’ll start Game 1 in Philadelphia, with Ohtani ready to go for his first career MLB playoff start. 

If Wednesday’s outing was any indication, they might have found someone to finish it, too. 

“I don’t think our bullpen struggles are talent-related,” Friedman said. “It’s execution. We see it with walking guys and getting behind in counts, which to me comes from confidence. So we have to figure out a way to spark that, and if Roki’s outing tonight is that spark, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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